Did Hamas Use Some North Korean Weapons In Attack On Israel?

New Delhi: It is likely that Hamas fighters fired North Korean weapons during their October 7 assault on Israel, a militant video and weapons seized by Israel show. Pyongyang has denied arming the militant group.

Nevertheless, South Korean officials, two experts on North Korean arms and an Associated Press (AP) analysis of weapons captured on the battlefield by Israel point toward Hamas using Pyongyang’s F-7 rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-fired weapon that fighters typically use against armored vehicles.

Rocket-propelled grenade launchers fire a single warhead and can be quickly reloaded, making them valuable weapons for guerrilla forces in running skirmishes with heavy vehicles. The F-7 has been documented in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, said N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a weapons expert who works as the director of the consultancy Armament Research Services.

“North Korea has long supported Palestinian militant groups, and North Korean arms have previously been documented amongst interdicted supplies,” N.R. Jenzen-Jones, a weapons expert who works as the director of the consultancy Armament Research Services told the AP.

Hamas has published images of their fighters with a launcher with a rocket-propelled grenade with a distinctive red stripe across its warhead, and other design elements matching the F-7, said Matt Schroeder, a senior researcher with Small Arms Survey who wrote a guide to Pyongyang’s light weapons. “It is not a surprise to see North Korean weapons with Hamas,” Schroeder told AP.

The North Korean F-7 resembles the more widely distributed Soviet-era RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade, with a few noticeable differences. Jenzen-Jones described the F-7 rocket-propelled grenade as “intended to offer a lethal effect against personnel” given its shape and payload, rather than armored vehicles. Weapons seized by the Israeli military and shown to journalists also included that red stripe and other design elements matching the F-7.

Hamas propaganda videos and photos previously have shown its fighters with North Korea’s Bulsae-guided anti-tank missile. Jenzen-Jones said he believed, based on the imagery of the weapons wielded by Hamas fighters in the Oct. 7 attack, they also used North Korea’s Type 58 self-loading rifle, a variant of the Kalashnikov assault rifle.

“Many North Korean weapons have been provided by Iran to militant groups, and this is believed to be the primary way by which Palestinian militants have come to possess North Korean weapons,” Jenzen-Jones was quoted as saying.